Garmin Index Smart Scale Review

Many people today have embraced tech devices, in particular fitness and activity trackers, as a way to simplify and automate their workout and health regimens. However, fewer are yet to embrace the smart bathroom scale, which is fast growing to match smart watches with pedometers in popularity. The scale is a vital component of any fitness and nutritional plan, and in particular for people struggling with weight management. The modern scale, such as the Garmin Index, is a smart measuring device that records and tracks a lot more than the user’s weight.

If, like many people, you are struggling to lose weight, perhaps you need a smart scale that will automate the process of measuring your daily calorie gains or losses along with other vital physical stats including bodily water and fat percentages, bone mass, and body mass index (BMI). One such invaluable bathroom accessory is the Garmin Index Smart scale that we review in this post.

Selling Points

Garmin, the GPS gadgets giant, entered the health and fitness industry with a bang, thanks to revolutionary technologies it already had in the market that required just a little tweaking to turn into activity trackers that easily integrate with smartphones and tablets. Its fully-featured Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ANT+ connected bathroom scale is a body composition analyzer with an obvious Italian-taste design with fancy metal and glass body and powerful sensors and software to encourage even an average user to pursue rigorous fitness goals.

The company touts the Garmin Index Smart Scale as a full circle wellness and weight management device that complement its range of wearable activity trackers and fitness devices that include bike computers and smartwatches. The company has fine-tuned the software to automate most processes, hence make it easier and seamless for the user to keep track of his/her health and physical status without compromising its aesthetic value.

Design & Build

The Garmin Index smart scale comes in two variants: black and white. It is a sturdy and visibly durable device cased with a metallic shell and a tempered glass top and a silver plate below the Garmin branding. It measures 13.8 by 12.2 inches and is just 1.2 inches high, weighs just 6.2 pounds (2.8kg) and runs on four AA batteries that come included. Beneath the scale are toggle buttons that the user can use to reset the device or to change the units of measurement between stone (ST), pounds (LB), and Kilograms (KG).

On its top front side, a prominent bright LED display with extra-large numbering for easy readability augments the visual appeal of the scale. In general, the Garmin Index smart scale is a sturdy and glamorous device that is designed and built to complement the décor of a modern bathroom.

Core Features

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and ANT+ connectivity options: The key feature of the Garmin Index smart scale is the variety of connectivity options it offers: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Garmin’s own ANT+ feature. The scale can connect to a linked Android or IOS device via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or directly to a connected Garmin account via ANT.

Support and automatic detection of up to 16 users: As many as 16 different users can use the Garmin Index smart scale concurrently. The best part is that the device can automatically recognize who just stepped on the scale to log their stats and automatically sync to the appropriate configured account.

Measuring and analyzing in-depth metrics: The Garmin Index smart scale can measure and log six different physical metrics: Body Mass Index, body fat percentage, body water percentage, bone mass, muscle mass, and body weight. It then syncs these metrics with the corresponding Garmin account for computation, analysis, and charting.

Seamless integration with other Garmin device: Buyers who already have other Garmin health devices such as the Garmin smartwatch will find that the data logged by the Garmin Index easily synchronizes across all devices with minimal set up. The scale will begin synchronizing the data with other devices as soon as it is connected to the linked Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or ANT+ networks.

Bright large LCD display: One of the top selling features of the Garmin Index smart bathroom scale is the LCD display with extra-large bright numbers against a dark background, which make it clearly visible under any lighting conditions. Note, however, that the display can only show the name of the user when it is linked to a Garmin online account.

Robust application and website dashboard: The joy of having a smart bathroom scale is the power of the tools that process the data it receives from the scale. Garmin’s mobile application for IOS, Android, and Windows devices called Garmin Connect Mobile, and the online dashboard on the Garmin Connect website offer powerful tools and features to help users easily understand their fitness progress graphs, set and work towards health goals, and even share their health statuses.

Integration with third-party apps: At present, the Garmin Index smart scale can only work with MyFitnessPal, although most users report that the integration seems to fail to work intermittently. Perhaps in the near future, with updates from Garmin, the Index smart bathroom scale will support syncing with more third-party applications.

Being one of the most popular bathroom scales on the market, the Garmin Index smart scale has attracted quite a number of positive, neutral, and negative reviews. Here are some of the top pros and cons of this scale as posted by customers who have used it.

Bottom Line

If you are hunting for a beautiful and highly reliable smart bathroom scale from a renowned manufacturing company that does things differently, the Garmin Index smart scale may be just what you are looking for. With accurate sensors to record six physical metrics including BMI, water and fat percentage, and bone and muscle mass, whether you are an athlete with high ambitions or just want to meet your weight goals, this smart bathroom scale has all the tools and features you need.

8.5Total Score

Beautiful and highly reliable smart bathroom scale

PROS

The Garmin Index smart scale is easy to set up and use, especially during the initial configuration of network connectivity.

The device is solidly built and has a visually appealing design.

Clear bright LCD display is ideal for use in any lighting conditions.

Powerful data analysis and charting features on the Garmin Connect app and website dashboard.

CONS

It does not have special modes such as athlete mode or pregnancy mode.